Inter faced Milan on Sunday night at San Siro. It was the first opportunity Roberto Mancini got to see his side in action since being re appointed by the Nerazzurri. Who was your Inter Man of the Match? Cast your vote below and we’ll announce the winner on this week’s StudioInter podcast: The only 100% Inter podcast available in English online.
I must have missed something. JJ was the best player yesterday?!?!? I guess I was watching a different game…
I can feel that we can compete in Europa league .. we played well but that’s not our best yet mancini still knowing the players .. the best formation for inter now is 4-3-1-2
Handa
Nagatomo – rano- jj – dodo
medel
Guarin Kovacic
Hernanes
Icardi Osvaldo
Kovacic does not belong on the wing of a 4-3-3, he needs to be in the middle, he barely touched the ball this evening
Not a bad effort from this team. I was happy to see somedecent effort and spirit. Kova looked out of place. AC owned the centre midfield. Only Guaro and Kuzo attempted to own the central space. Time will tell how Mancini responds to this glaring weakness. Perhaps Mvilla and Medel street fight for the space. If they win then maybe Kova can pass some penetrating balls to Icardi. Let’s face it Icardi may as well have lived on an island tonight.
An island that given his two chances he should have scored on. All strikers are dependent on service but the best make their few opportunities count. He never has done this. Ever!
Icardi’s team work is close to 0, he must work on that because we can’t afford to have a striker relying 100% on his teammates
Dodo, cause he had his ass kicked in the beginning and played through the entire game like Rocky Balboa. Respect!
I saw improvements on the pitch, although not spectacular. And I believe we saw and felt the improvements during the game. Against a strong opponent, we managed to get 8 shots, 3 on target, 1 hit woodwork, 1 goal, 55% ball possession and 87% pass success. These stats mean that our game is slightly improving in various aspects. Quite decent improvements.
However, I have to say with the available so-so players like now we should not expect that Mancio will deliver wonders in short term. Nagatomo was obviously an attacking winger who cannot defend at all, and he was misplaced. No wonder, Milan kept counter-attacking from his side. Dodo was more balanced than him in the left flank. However, Dodo should stop delivering ineffective long crosses to the box and he should have penetrated deeper to the box with his good dribble. That would create more damages and havoc to opponent.
Rano and JJ have to forget what WM taught in 3 backs formation, they looked shaky and out of position many times in. Thankfully, Milan’s attackers were really shitty tonight and failed to take benefits from our defensive mistakes. In the next matches, Vidic shall come up and share his vast experiences in four backs tactic with Rano and JJ. In fact, Vidic was a god-like in Fergie’s 4 backs formation. Let’s cross our fingers that Vidic will regain his form in this formation. Hopefully.
The midfielders were really interesting. Many people, including me believe that Kuz was a completely shitty this season. To he honest, he was the engine of Inter’s midfield tonight. He was like a cambiasso-typical-player but slower and less defensive. 87% pass success stat backed up this hypothesis. The problem here, Mancio still has big homework to find the suitable positions for Kovacic, Guarin and Hernanes in the following matches. Obviously, they looked clueless, especially Kovacic. He was put as an AM in the formation, but he kept moving as a wide attacking winger along with Dodo and Obi. This created confusion on the left flank and halt the middle-passing flows. That’s why, Mancio introduced Hernanes. Unfortunately, Hernanes has not recovered yet from his injury. For Guarin, he played a so-so game as a right midfielder. Instead of attacking from the right side, he looked busy covering defensive area left by Nagatomo. For Obi, he looked clumsy and static in the left side since Kovacic played in his area. But still, we have to thank for his goal.
For attackers, Icardi missed a really great chance to turn the game by hitting the woodwork with his volley. He should have put that ball into the net. Palacio was livelier than previous matches because Palacio played as an AM instead of as a second striker. This was because of Kovacic’s tactical confusion. This awkward situation nulled the passing flows and isolated Icardi’s position. Osvaldo should have been introduced much earlier to add more attacking powers along with Icardi and Palacio to give Milan’s defense a final shot to win the game.
improvement? yes. but will that because of mancini himself or just because they wanted to get in mancini’s first xi still needed more judgement. every time there is a new coach, they always plays better because they had better spirit. 8 shots, 3 on target, 1 hit woodwork, 1 goal, 55% ball possession and 87% pass success? ow please they used to be better. and milan wasn’t really a strong opponent since they lose some of their best players and wasn’t really that far in terms of quality. not to mention they haven’t won their last 4 games.
i don’t think dodo are that much difference than naga. both couldn’t defend well. the difference tonight was that it seems dodo was being restricted by mancini to go up the field too much and too far. so he did more crosses from deep instead of his usual dribbling.
true. but saying vidic was god-like in fergie’s formation? how long has it been? since he became a god-like defender. face it, he wasn’t the same player. but if mancini can do something to make him keep his area at the back without much running then his experience can help rano and juan and this whole team advance.
still think kova is not an am or treq. so i’m hoping mancini stop playing him behind the strikers. he is much better playing deep, picking the ball from the back. on that am position he doesn’t get much ball and at the end had to drop deep again to get it hence leaving space between mid and forward.
for icardi, how i wasn’t surprised. he is the type of player who was great when he is on his form but sadly it was rarely happened. so i wouldn’t really reject any good offer with huge chunk of money if there is anyone wanted to take him off.
decent game. not good and frankly we were pretty lucky that obi scored that goal but i’ll take it any day any time. hope for some more improvements when against dnipro
Kovacic was put as a LW.
Juan Jesus was awesome today, I really felt satisfied with seeing his anger toward bonaventura…
From mancini’s statement it looks like he’ll use 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, meanwhile we dont have external attackers so palacio and kova had to sacrifice. I hope mancini will soon find the best formula for this team, but i think 3 attackers at the moment is quite too forcing, not for our kovavic. It’s such a waste to see him played as left winger and he’s not silva. Again,to me kova is more like iniesta or modric. I’d rather have 4-4-2. We’ll certainly try several formulas in the next several matches before january.
Will be nice when Mancini gets some players he can work with in January 🙂
I wouldn’t count on that too much. Unless we manage to sell some of the more valuable players, the only arrivals I can see coming are one or two loans.
Salah,campbell, and paulinho for loan is a great help. Hahaha
Salah/Campbell maybe, but I can’t see Paulinho going on a loan to Inter. They want cash for him.
Yeah but who knows. He looks physically off in today’s match even as subtitute. We need a mobile center midfielder. I think he suits italian play.
4-4-2: Handanovic, D’ambrosio, Ranocchia, Juan jesus, Dodo, Medel, hernanes, guarin, kovacic, palacio, osvaldo
hope mancini uses this formation next game
Even though obi scored, his poor control of the ball started the attack in which milan scored their goal…
It was clear tonight that Mancini brought a new spirit to Inter. We played much more interesting, not predictable and attacking. We had so many chances and quite a lot of creativity compared to Mazzari’s style. And that was done with Obi and Kuzmanovič(not saying that Kuzma played bad or anything, he was quite decent). I think we can really do some damage when Hernanes, M’Vila, Medel and such players return fully fit. Sure, not really perfect, but its really good for a first match after only two weeks of preparation time on a derby. Defense was shaky, but that is due to the fact that we suddenly switched to 4 at the back. It was noticable that the players weren’t used to it and they kept falling out of position. And I think that with time, they will get used to the 4 at the back and we will be more solid in defense. Overall, the game was much more watchable than the usual Mazzari slugfest.
It’s actually less than a week, since there were national players. Mancini said he didnt expect his version of play in only 5 days.
Oh yeah, I totally forgot. Well this is the first time after quite a few weeks that I am looking forward to the next matches to see what Mancini can achieve. I really really hope he can do something with this club. The quality of players is nowhere near his previous managership of Inter but I think that we are strong enough for 3-4th place with this lineup.
IF, none get injured.
This was the best Inter have looked in a draw in a very long time. A breath of air has arrived in Mancini. I believe that once he has a better understanding of the squad we will do better or at the very least look better. We will look better when he plays 4-3-1-2.
Also, world class strikers score where Icardi missed in the 79th minute. He’s not world class.
I you ask me opportunity in the beginning in the first half was more must for scoring. But Icardi made the mistake trying to finish with right leg, doesn’t matter that the ball was more comfortable for the left. Second opportunity in the end was much more difficult to equalize. But don’t judge him too harsh, he’s only 21 years old. Tell me one 21 years old world class striker?
aguero? even balo at 21 was even better than icardi. oh you must be meaning about now? how about paco alcacer? romelu lukaku? berardi was even younger than icardi and play in sassuolo yet he scored more same last year compared to icardi
OMG! Actual clever comments coming from you. Is Wolfsburg playing tomorrow? I’m sure Bendtner is gonna score now!
i had my own judgement about icardi even before he came here. his goalscoring record in samp wasn’t particularly good and i already said that we spent too much for him. i don’t really know how other people thinking someone who scored at one game and invisible or wasting chances after chances at the other three can be considered as good. if any other team wanted to took him for huge chunk of money, more or less 25 to 30 mill, then i would gladly accept it. the same goes for kova. for me only juje out of those 3 that can be considered as really good and consistent
I wouldn’t laugh at Bentner seeing that the productivity of Palacio has been atrocious to say the least.
OMG! Actual clever comments coming from you. Is Wolfsburg playing tomorrow? I’m sure Bendtner is gonna score now!
That’s why i am not really into him. For me, he’ll only be a commodity to sell for a high price. I prefer osvaldo than him. No big clubs playing with 21yo players as the main striker.
I can’t believe that I’m not the only one that thinks Icardi is nothing more than a dollar sign. In my oppinion he’s too stationary and not superior enough to be a starter in a club like Inter. And this is the guy we rely on to score the goals. I’d take Osvaldo over him any day, hope we cash in him, i know he’s 21 but don’t see him ever becoming world class..
Hope atletico really serious about him!
You are not alone in your belief. I have said since Inter got him that he was nothing. Has some nice flashes now and then but very inconsistent. Osvaldo is better and more importantly makes others better around him
i’ll vote for kuz. he was solid. guarin wasn’t as effective as he used to be and juan kept leaving his space
Agree again…
You can see how good a coach Mancini is. The first goal was due to a mistake from Obie who gave possession away really cheaply. On top of that Obi got a yellow card and a few more mistakes. Instead of replacing him, Mancini talked to him during the break and gave him another chance. In the second half, the kid was doing back heels and other fancy plays and he fought hard to score the goal. You could see how confident the kid was in the second half. This is the kind of coach an young team like inter needs.
I really hate to say it, but Kuz did well tonight. My vote goes to him.
He has done really well in the last three games. Truth is he had given 3 man of the match performances in the last three games.
Am sorry say to this, I really do, but Obi is not a footballer, he is a sprinter.
I’d like to see Guarin with the ball more often, he is very physical and attack-minded. I even miss his long-shot efforts 😀
That was a really dull derby. Almost like not a derby. However that was more like inter that i know. Give mancini more time and good players, we should be competitive for third spot..
dull derby? may i remind you that the last time Inter played the derby they did not register a shot on target and lost 1-0 to a Milan team coached by a rookie. now that was a dull derby !!!!!
Between jesus and dodo, but i’ll go for dodo as he was playing like a Bloody warrior! I must say kovacic is the worst tonight. Iidk what happened to him looks so off tonight.t’s clear to me now, he couldnt play as trequartista, he should be play in obi’s position. He’s not the one to receive through pass!
He played a lot with Croacia during the break. Against Italy he had to run a lot, and played the whole 90 minutes
Nope, he’s sub for injured modric. Played for about 60 minutes.
I think he meant that Kovačič played 90 minutes tonight.
Mm okay. But he looked off from the very beginning.
but he didn’t play as a trequartista tonight, he played on the left wing as did Palacio on the right. He actually needs and MUST switch to trequartista.
Well yeah in fact we played with 4-3-3 on the field. But i still prefer him as cmf, in the position of modric in madrid. But i also support for him to be trequartista.
At least we came back, deserved more, but Mancini should really talk to the backs, especially Dodo about hitting high crosses into the area. He did that around 62 times this game, straight into the gloves of Diego Lopez and gave the possession to Milan..
Agree with you. but his dribble and aggresion was good, that was made difficult milan defender. It might be lovable if mancio just command him to open space or simple cross pass.
Well not a good match from Inter but still much better then under Mazzarri! But damn what Mancini have done good with the team in only one week!
You can tell the difference, the team has improved a lot since Mancini took over. We are less predicted now and Palacio is getting his form back which is good. Forza Inter <3
Yeah and that’s only in one week, think how good this can be next or to the end of the season 😉
off course it’s a less predicted. it’s the first game. wait till several more games to claim that we are less predicted or just the same old inter
I vote mancini as Man of the Match! (-.-)/
JJ i think is the best player in inter 2day
I think JJ is the only one who plays with a full heart. Obi scored tho but i still dont like him and want him out of the team 😀
He works harder than any other midfielder we have but he definitely shouldn’t start in a derby.